RE Congress attendees reflect on Pope Francis’ health and legacy
As Pope Francis fought for his life in a Rome hospital, Maggie Forney was praying for him 6,000 miles away at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in Anaheim.
Scrolling through her phone, she brought up images of the pope from when she sang with a choir at the Vatican in 2017. Forney didn’t expect to see Francis on that trip, but suddenly got an up-close-and-personal view that left her practically speechless.
“I was just so in awe to have a man of God that close to me and I couldn’t say a word,” said Forney, a parishioner at St. Cyprian Church in Long Beach. “I couldn’t say anything. My cousin was standing there and she goes, ‘Yes you did.’ I said, ‘What did I say?’ She said, ‘You said, we’re from California, we came to pray with you and to pray for you.’ I don’t remember saying any of that.